By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said there might be carveouts coming to the 25% tariffs placed on Canada and Mexico by President Donald Trump, a softening of the U.S. position after Tuesday’s tax hike hurt the stock market, worried consumers and started a trade war.

In a Wednesday interview with Bloomberg Television, Lutnick said that Trump would update his tariff plans with an afternoon announcement, possibly sparing sectors such as autos from the import taxes.

“There are going to be tariffs, let’s be clear,” Lutnick said. “But what he’s thinking about is which sections of the market that can maybe — maybe — he’ll consider giving them relief until we get to, of course, April 2.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick arrives before President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

On April 2, Trump plans to announce what he calls “reciprocal” tariffs to match the tariffs, taxes and subsidies provided by other countries. That could dramatically increase the tariff rates charged globally while maintaining the risk of a broader tariff.

Lutnick said he would talk on Wednesday morning with Trump about the possible options regarding Canada and Mexico, saying that both countries are working to address the U.S. president’s concerns about drug trafficking. Lutnick said to expect Trump to announce his decision Wednesday afternoon.

The Canadian government indicated that nothing less than the removal of the tariffs was acceptable.

“We’re not interested in meeting in the middle and having some reduced tariff. Canada wants the tariffs removed,” Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

On Tuesday, Trump put 25% taxes on imports from Mexico and Canada, taxing Canadian energy products such as oil and electricity at a lower 10% rate. The president also doubled the 10% tariff he placed on China to 20%. The administration has said the tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of drugs such as fentanyl, but Trump also suggested that the tariffs are about getting rid of persistent U.S. trade deficits.

The taxes almost immediately triggered retaliatory measures by Canada and China, with Mexico planning to announce its response on Sunday. The U.S. stock market has given up all of the gains since Trump’s victory in last year’s presidential election and consumers are already exhausted by inflation and worried the costs of the tax hike would lead to higher prices. Those concerns may have prompted Lutnick to signal a possible retreat in a Tuesday afternoon interview with the Fox Business Network.

“I think he’s going to figure out, you do more, and I’ll meet you in the middle in some way,” Lutnick told Fox Business Network, remarks that caused the stock market to pare its losses on the day.

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But in his joint address to Congress on Tuesday night, Trump seemed intent on pushing forward with tariffs.

The U.S. president tried to play down the possible economic harm as “a little disturbance,” as the administration has suggested that the estimates of higher inflation and slower growth in most outside economic forecasts are overblown.

“It may be a little bit of an adjustment period,” he said after claiming that farmers would benefit from reciprocal tariffs on countries that have tariffs on U.S. exports. “You have to bear with me again and this will be even better.”

Trump also said in his speech that he spoke on Tuesday with “all three, the top people” at the major U.S. automakers and “they’re so excited.” The big three automakers are General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler and Jeep. The domestic auto sector would be especially vulnerable to tariffs as it depends on Mexico and Canada as part of its supply chain.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau interpreted Trump’s tariffs as a betrayal of the friendship between the two nations.

Trudeau said on Tuesday that his country would plaster tariffs on over $100 billion (U.S. dollars) of American goods over the course of 21 days.

“Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they are talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense,” Trudeau said on Tuesday.

Mexico indicated it would announce its own countermeasures on Sunday.

Beijing responded with tariffs of up to 15% on a wide array of U.S. farm exports. It also expanded the number of U.S. companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen.

Associated Press reporter Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

By REBECCA SANTANA and TIM SULLIVAN, Associated Press

Associated Press (AP) — Mayors from four major cities are set to testify Wednesday in Congress as Republicans take aim at “sanctuary cities,” arguing that they impede the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda and protect people who are in the United States illegally.

Mayors Michelle Wu of Boston, Brandon Johnson of Chicago, Mike Johnston of Denver and Eric Adams of New York will appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

In an indication of what’s likely to come, the Republican majority last week released a nearly three-minute-long video previewing the hearing. It opens with images of the Constitution catching fire and burning, revealing photos of the four mayors. It goes on to show arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents of people who’d committed crimes in those cities interspersed with comments from the mayors and news stories showing negative impacts of migration surges.

The video ends with the committee chair, Rep. James Comer of Kentusky, threatening to cut the cities’ federal funding if they don’t cooperate with immigration enforcement.

There’s no strict definition for sanctuary policies or sanctuary cities, but the terms generally describe limited cooperation with ICE. The agency enforces U.S. immigration laws nationwide but often seeks state and local help to hold people who’ve been arrested or convicted of a crime until federal officers can take custody.

In communities that don’t cooperate, ICE agents go into communities to track down people after their release. ICE argues that this is dangerous and strains resources.

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Trump administration officials have also argued that if communities work with them on immigration enforcement, “collateral arrests” — when ICE detains people other than those targeted — are less likely.

“Sanctuary cities want to keep locking us out of jails,” President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told reporters. “They force us into the neighborhood to find the bad guys. When we find the bad guy, many times they’re with others.”

But some cities and states say cooperating with ICE means victims and witnesses who are in the U.S. illegally won’t come forward. And, to varying degrees, officials argue that they want their localities to be welcoming places for immigrants.

Advocates say that while ICE claims to target “the worst of the worst” — meaning immigrants who’ve committed heinous crimes in the U.S. — they end up going far beyond that, destabilizing communities.

Courts have repeatedly upheld the legality of most sanctuary laws.

But the Trump administration continues to target them and has sued Chicago and Illinois as well as New York state over various immigration laws.

Sullivan reported from Minneapolis.

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis was resting Wednesday, the start of the solemn Lenten period leading up to Holy Week observances, after sleeping through the night with a ventilation mask as he undergoes hospital treatment for double pneumonia.

In its latest update, the Vatican said that the pope rested well overnight, waking up shortly after 8 a.m. Pope Francis remained in stable condition, with a guarded prognosis, meaning he was not out of danger. He resumed supplemental oxygen delivered by a nasal tube in the morning, alternating from a ventilation mask at night as doctors seek to ease his breathing for a deeper rest.

People attend as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, leads the recitation of the Holy Rosary for Pope Francis’ health in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

The 88-year-old pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, had two respiratory crises on Monday in a setback to his recovery.

On Tuesday, he was breathing with just the help of supplemental oxygen after respiratory crises a day earlier, but resumed using a ventilation mask at night, the Vatican said.

Francis’ hospitalization began on Feb. 14 and is the longest of his 12-year papacy.

Ash Wednesday

Francis’ treatment continues as the Vatican prepares for Lent, the solemn period beginning with Ash Wednesday and leading up to Easter on April 20. A cardinal has been designated to take Francis’ place at Vatican celebrations, with a traditional service and procession in Rome

On Ash Wednesday, observant Catholics receive a sign of the cross in ashes on their foreheads, a gesture that underscores human mortality. It is an obligatory day of fasting and abstinence for Catholics that signals the start of Christianity’s most penitent season.

Vatican prepares for Lent without Francis

The pope had intended to attend a spiritual retreat this coming weekend with the rest of the Holy See hierarchy. On Tuesday, the Vatican said the retreat would go ahead without Francis but in “spiritual communion” with him. The theme, selected weeks ago and well before Francis got sick, was “Hope in eternal life.”

Francis, who is not physically active, uses a wheelchair and is overweight, had been undergoing respiratory physiotherapy to try to improve his lung function. The accumulation of secretions in his lungs was a sign that he doesn’t have the muscle tone to cough vigorously enough to expel the fluid.

Doctors often use noninvasive ventilation to stave off intubation or the use of more invasive mechanical ventilation. Francis has not been intubated during this hospitalization. It’s not clear if he has provided any instructions on the limits of his care if he declines seriously or loses consciousness.

Catholic teaching holds that life must be defended from conception until natural death. It insists that chronically ill patients, including those in vegetative states, must receive “ordinary” care such as hydration and nutrition, but “extraordinary” or disproportionate care can be suspended if it is no longer beneficial or is only prolonging a precarious and painful life.

Associated Press writer Colleen Barry in Rome contributed to this report.